The vision for Crosby Roamann began in New York City in 2006. Husband and wife, Sean and Juliana McBride started making wine in Tribeca in 2006 – merely a barrel of grapes they purchased from one of Napa’s most well known <img class="size-full wp-image-12629 alignright" src="http://mikethewineguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Crosby-Roamann-Wine.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />vineyard managers, Andy Beckstoffer. Bitten by the bug Sean moved to the valley and started making wine at White Rock Vineyards – which is where he learned much of the hands on process of wine making. Their first commercial release dates from 2007. They started selling this release in 2010 and with this increased commitment, both Sean and and Juliana moved to the valley and now live here full time.
Sean first discovered his interest in wine while working in college stocking a wine shop. His “aha moment”, as he describes it was over a bottle of Ridge 1995 Zinfandel from Paso Robles. While working at this wine shop he developed a new found passion for wine and became a voracious reader of wine literature and tried to learn as much as he could about the industry. How it is made, why it taste differently and so forth. The enjoyment of drinking wine became ancillary.
The focus of Crosby Roamann’s wines are on single vineyard single appellation hand-crafted wines. They work with local independent growers and currently source fruit from more than 10 vineyards – all in Napa. Often times they will hear from friends and other growers of a select vineyard that needs a home for its fruit; they are not opposed to making wine from the vineyard for just a single vintage or if there is a chance for a longer term agreement, they may add a particular vineyard into their annual portfolio.
Sean is highly interested in the terroir of Napa and what makes each region within the valley unique. Generally, can you taste the differences between Rutherford and neighboring Oakville? Is the “Rutherford Dust” an aspect that is completely unique to this sub appellation? Some of their wines explore these terroir differences – especially neat are wines he makes from grapes grown so close to each other but in different soils and even differences in mini microclimates.